Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3: We Agreed You’d Be a Good-for-Nothing Heir—So Why Were You Secretly Grinding Levels?
Inside the master bedroom.
Lin Tianhao leaned against the headboard and lit a cigar with a thoroughly satisfied expression.
His bare upper body was covered in crisscrossing scars, the medals of honor that marked a War God’s glory.
“Still as vigorous as ever, Commander Lin.”
Wrapped in a silk robe, Su Wan lounged lazily against her husband’s shoulder, her fingers lightly tracing those scars.
“Looks like that piece of magical dragon meat really was not wasted. Your combat strength has not diminished at all from your younger days.”
“Of course!”
Lin Tianhao raised his brows smugly and swept out a hand with heroic flair.
“Who do you think I am? The Thunder War God!”
“If I had not been worried about making too much noise and waking Momo just now, I would have followed up with another two rounds of ‘Thunderous Might’ at the very least!”
Su Wan rolled her eyes at him and lightly pinched his arm.
“Oh, stop bragging. Were you trying to tear the house down?”
At that, worry entered Su Wan’s eyes.
“I just hope that this time, we can raise a new character with decent talent. If Momo gets bullied in the future, then at least he will have a younger brother or sister to protect him.”
Lin Tianhao held his wife’s hand.
“Do not worry. I have a feeling this time it is definitely going to work!”
“Momo was... ahem, an accident. If we try again, we are absolutely getting a little monster!”
Just then—
Buzz—buzz—
The sound of a vibrating phone came from the bedside table.
Lin Tianhao frowned slightly. He picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID, and his expression immediately turned a little strange.
“Who is calling this late?”
Su Wan asked.
“Old Zhao.”
Lin Tianhao curled his lip in disgust. “That old bastard Zhao Lei is probably calling to show off.”
The moment the call connected, Zhao Lei’s booming voice burst out of the speaker.
“Yo! Old Lin! Still awake this late? From the sound of it, you have not turned in yet, have you?”
“If you have something to say, then spit it out!”
Lin Tianhao replied irritably, “I am busy. I do not have time to trade nonsense with you.”
“Heh, it is nothing major. My boy finished his awakening, so I thought I would share the good news with an old comrade-in-arms like you.”
Zhao Lei was not offended in the slightest. His voice was brimming with smug satisfaction.
Before Lin Tianhao could say anything, Zhao Lei had already started boasting on his own.
“Sigh, my boy awakened as a Blaze Mage. Unfortunately, his fire elemental affinity only came out at S-rank. Pretty average, I suppose.”
Zhao Lei let out a deliberately modest sigh.
Lin Tianhao snorted coldly.
A Blaze Mage with S-rank fire elemental affinity, and you call that average?
Even his own lightning elemental affinity, as a Thunder War God, was only S-rank.
Any class with S-rank elemental affinity was destined to become part of the city’s top tier of combat power in the future.
“Oh, that is not bad,” Lin Tianhao said flatly. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, thanks!”
Pretending not to hear the displeasure in Lin Tianhao’s voice, Zhao Lei went on.
“My son is pretty ambitious too. He is already almost level three.”
“Oh, right, Old Lin. I heard your Lin Mo did not awaken all that well. How about I have my boy take him along to gain some levels and look after him a little? We have known each other for years, after all...”
Beep...
Before Zhao Lei could finish, Lin Tianhao expressionlessly hung up.
The bedroom fell into a brief silence.
Su Wan hugged his arm sympathetically and said softly,
“Are you angry because of what Old Zhao said?”
“Hmph. You know exactly what kind of person that old bastard is.”
Lin Tianhao leaned back against the headboard again, but this time, the hand holding his cigarette was noticeably tighter.
“Back in university, I kept him under me. Later, when we joined the city defense army, I still kept him under me.”
“For all these decades, Zhao Lei has never once been able to stand tall in front of me!”
“And now things are different. Heaven handed him a son with S-rank Blaze Mage talent...”
“He has been swallowing that frustration for decades, and now he has finally found a chance to get even with me!”
Su Wan let out a sigh, and a trace of helplessness appeared in her eyes as well.
“My dear, an S-rank Blaze Mage is a genius among geniuses.”
“At the Class Holder Grand Exam in three days, that boy from the Zhao family is definitely going to steal the spotlight. He may even break the city record.”
“When that happens, if Momo’s results are too ugly... there will definitely be no shortage of gossip.”
“How dare they!”
Lin Tianhao’s eyes widened, and a surge of pressure burst from him.
“If he dares say one bad word about Momo to my face, I will rip his mouth apart!”
“Oh, Old Lin, you can shut Zhao Lei’s mouth with your fists, but you cannot silence everyone else.”
“That Zhao boy has always been arrogant and overbearing, and he has never gotten along with our Momo. When the time comes, he is bound to stir up his little followers and spread all kinds of nasty talk...”
Su Wan looked at Lin Tianhao, her worry deepening.
After a long while, Lin Tianhao blew out a ring of smoke, his voice turning hoarse and low.
“The exam... for the sake of fairness, only the most ordinary Bronze-grade equipment is allowed. It is a real test of actual strength, broadcast live to the entire city, in full view of everyone.”
At that point, Lin Tianhao viciously crushed the cigarette he had just lit, and a trace of grim resolve flashed through his eyes.
“No. We cannot let Momo suffer that kind of indignity!”
“My dear, tomorrow tell Momo to take sick leave and skip the exam entirely!”
“Our family has more than enough money. We can spend a little and arrange for him to get into some university and drift through a few years there.”
“Rather than letting him go there and be treated like a joke by Zhao Lei’s whole family, I would rather have him sleep comfortably at home.”
Su Wan froze for a moment. Then her eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded.
“We will do as you say. He is our only son. Face and pride do not matter. As long as he does not suffer, that is enough.”
Lin Tianhao stubbed out the cigarette again with force, then turned to Su Wan.
“My dear, one more time!”
“Does Zhao Lei want to compete over sons? Fine! Then we will compete with him to the bitter end!”
“As for Momo... in this lifetime, we will block every storm for him. Even if he is a good-for-nothing, he is still my most precious good-for-nothing!”
Su Wan wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, her gaze gentle.
“Good. No one else gets to bully a child of the Lin family.”
...
The next morning.
Lin Mo groggily opened his eyes and stretched.
That sleep had been exceptionally satisfying.
“Ah, that felt good...”
Lin Mo rubbed his eyes and instinctively opened his class panel.
【Name: Lin Mo】
【Class: Mage】
【Level: Lv.3 (25%)】
【Skills: Fireball (Lv.3), Multi-Burst Fireball (Lv.3)】
Lin Mo’s pupils contracted sharply, and the last traces of sleep vanished in an instant.
“What the hell? It really reached level three?”
One had to know that in this world, leveling up was no easy matter.
Even a genius from a powerful family would only have a chance of reaching Lv.3 on the first day if they were supported by an entire team.
But what about him?
He had slept through the night, done absolutely nothing, and now he was Lv.3?
And his EXP bar had even gone up by another 25%!
“So this is the appeal of fully automatic grinding?”
Lin Mo could not help sighing in amazement.
He glanced at the skill bar. Beneath 【Fireball】, there was now another line of status text:
【Status: Catching up on sleep (snoring away)】
【Mood: Extremely exhausted (and somewhat craving a midnight snack)】
【Last Night’s Results: Sharpfang Rabbits x158, Prairie Gray Wolves x135, Venomous Spiders x112...】
【Message left behind: I’m exhausted... Hey, whoever is in charge, hurry up and get me something with fire-element properties to replenish me, or I’m going on strike!】
Looking at that somewhat irritable message, Lin Mo was not angry at all.
Why bother getting mad at his own skill?
Especially when it was helping him level up.
Just then, his mother Su Wan’s gentle voice came from downstairs.
“Momo, are you awake? Come down for breakfast.”
“Coming!”
Lin Mo sprang out of bed, washed up quickly, changed into a casual outfit, and went downstairs humming a tune.
...
In the dining room, both Su Wan and Lin Tianhao were already seated at the table.
“Morning, Mom. Dad.”
Lin Mo pulled out a chair and sat down, casually picking up a slice of toast, clearly in an excellent mood.
Seeing her son’s carefree, utterly untroubled expression, Su Wan felt another pang of sadness in her heart.
Lin Tianhao’s words from the previous night still echoed in her ears.
Although telling her son to take sick leave and skip the grand exam was meant to protect his mental well-being and spare him from cruel gossip—
Having to tell him with her own mouth, “You are not good enough. Do not go and embarrass yourself,” was still an unbearably cruel thing.
Su Wan carefully considered her wording, preparing to bring up the matter of taking sick leave.
Suddenly, the instinct of her Sacred High Priest class made her sense that something was wrong.
The aura around Lin Mo...
Why did it feel noticeably stronger than yesterday?
“Hm?”
Su Wan looked over instinctively.
A 【Detection Spell】 was cast on Lin Mo.
In the next second, Su Wan froze on the spot.
【Lin Mo, Level: Lv.3】
L-Level three?!
Had they not agreed that he would stay home and peacefully be a good-for-nothing heir? Why had he secretly gone out grinding levels in the middle of the night?